Cynophobia
by Marioluver
Summary: harry is afraid of dogs. like REALLY afraid. Didn't help that he was emotionally scarred by one when he was young. now at hogwarts rumors appear of a massive dog haunting the 3rd corridor, how does harry react? and whats that shadow on the school grounds? This is a mentor/guardian fic between a little boy whom needs a friend and a dog waiting for someone to protect.


Cynophobia or (Harry is afraid of dogs)

Harry potter unheard of pairing challenge ALWAYS OPEN

Harry/Fang

Rating: T

I do not own. I may not want to depending on how badly I will probably botch this story.

Warnings: Contains past child abuse

Ever since the incident with Aunt Marges Bulldog when he was younger harry had been terrified of dogs. He hated them and had no problems with staying away from them, but one night while wandering the grounds he runs into one of Hagrids little or not so little pets.

Is he the cause of the rumors about something dangerous howling about the third corridor around the school? Or is it something far more sinister…

Harry looked out the window seat from his dormitory in Griffindor tower at the inky black sky outside his window. He had been sitting there quite a while though, he thought as he shifted to ease a twinge in his lower back. The seat was wooden, made for students to take a short break, not sit there for hours on end.

His shoulder brushed against the cool glass. Now that it was October the night air had cooled down the Whomping Willow lost all of its leaves in one fell whump, and he had finally settled into his lessons.

It had been over a month since he had first come to Hogwarts, and he had seen some amazing things while he was here. He could never have imagined a ceiling that illuminated the starry night sky or seeing his uptight transfiguration teacher turn into a cat! But it wasn't wonder that woke him from a sound sleep rather then something else.

There were rumors going around from some of the older years about something vicious prowling about the third corridor. A couple of days ago Dean didn't show up for charms, said Filch caught him lost about the third corridor and forced him to clean bedpans in the hospital wing for sticking his nose where it didn't belong. 'I guess that's why I didn't see him in charms today.'

Either way when he got back he just kept prattling on about some noise he heard in the third corridor. He wouldn't shut up the entire dinner! Soon half the Gryffindor table was listening into the conversation, Fred and George especially.

Today Fred and George weren't there for supper in the main hall. Although when he got back to the tower from his detention with Professor Snape where he had spent the last 2 hours cleaning cauldrons because Malfoy ruined his potion in class, Fred and George were regaling several stunned Gryffindor's about their adventure in the third corridor.

"So then we heard this strange noise-"

Freds voice cut off his twins. "-And decided to check it out."

"And you wouldn't believe what we heard!"

Several of the first years were leaning in, eyes as wide as dinner plates while the second and third years, used to their antics eased back into their chairs, waiting to hear the rest of their story.

"So as we were walking around in the Third Corridor-"

"Something started to bark at us-

"Except it sounded like it was 50 feet tall!"

"Or like there Was 50 of them.-"

"No, 100!"

"Too true, dear brother."

"I don't believe I've ever heard something that loud in my life."

"Well, aside from-"

"I doubt anything could be louder then you two. Bloody gits."

Harry only realised then that Ron was standing beside him, a look of disbelief plastered on his face.

"I think I've finally found something more loudmouthed then the dog Fred."

"And what would that be dearest George?"

"Little brothers who don't know when to keep their mouths shut, right Ickle Ronniekins?"

Ron's ears flushed red. "Why you!.. You better stop it or I'll-"

"Surprise us with hithero unknown magical powers?"

The twins voices had once again melded together as one. "Arrrgh!"

Ron stalked up the staircase leading to the boys dormitory. Not wanting to be caught between the twins and Ron he hurried up the wooden staircase behind him.

'I wonder if it's true, that there is a giant dog inside Hogwarts.'

Harry shivered, he did not like dogs.

When he reached the red and gold colored dormitory he spotted Ron on the bed beside his own, looking moody and picking at the red cover on his bed. "What's up, Ron?"

"Those stupid gits. Why'd I have to wind up with brothers like them!"

"They don't seem so bad. Anyway-"

Harry was eager to get on to another topic and pull Ron out of his moody state.

"Do you think what they were saying is true? That there is a massive dog inside Hogwarts?

'Please say no, please say no, please say no…'

"They may be royal gits, but I don't know why they'd lie to people about something like this."

Ron noticed Harry's almost imperceptible shiver.

"You alright, mate?"

Harry's voice was quieter. "I just don't really like dogs all that much."

"Bad experience then? Man, did you get treed or something?"

That hit too close to home. Ron must have noticed the stung look on his face because he lightened up and gave him a pat on the shoulder. "Sorry mate. Say, I'm kinda hungry. Fred says there's an entrance to the kitchen somewhere near that old statue of that knight with the bent sword. Should we go try to find it?

Harry was glad to be rid of that topic. "Sure, lets go."

'It's too bad we didn't find the kitchen.'

Harry still sat at the windowsill staring out at the night sky, his breath slightly fogging part of the window.

Even though he had been sitting there for a couple of hours the image of his nightmare from earlier on still rang in his mind.

It had been a while since Aunt Marge had come to stay with the Dursleys for a while…

*Flashback*

"Hurry up and bring my coffee boy!"

"Yes, Uncle Vernon."

A seven year old harry potter stood on a chair beside the stove and coffee maker waiting for the coffee to finish dripping. He also had to watch the breakfast on the stove to make sure it didn't burn. If it did, he knew he wouldn't like the outcome. A shiver coursed through his spine. That had been a long three days without anything to eat.

Working quickly Harry poured some coffee into one of Vernon's favorite mugs, the one with the bluebell design around the rim of the mug and handle. He carefully walked over to Vernon who was reading the newspaper at the head of the table, Dudley at the side. He quickly hopped over Dudley's foot when he suddenly decided to give his leg a 'stretch' and managed to give him the coffee without spilling any of it.

"Boy, make sure you don't burn the breakfast! Remember, Marge will be arriving soon from the airport and I want EVERYTHING ready for when she arrives. You hear me boy?"

Other then that, preparing breakfast had went without incident. He was just laying the fried, shredded potatoes and bacon on the table when the door opened and an almost manly voice called though the entrance. "WHERES MY DIDDY POO!"

Dudley left his chair in an instant to go see what his Aunt had gotten for him this time. Vernon calmly walked toward Harry and pushed him into the counter. "No funny business boy. You are to treat Marge with the utmost respect she deserves."

Mustache bristling he went out to the front of the house to greet Marge. 'The only thing she deserves is a lesson in respect.'

'At least I get to eat every meal, without only eating scraps.'

That brightened him up a little. Maybe this wouldn't be so bad after all.

'I was wrong…' Breakfast had been okay, Marge had been in too good a mood to notice harry as he snuck some toast and eggs onto a plate and hurried off to his cupboard to savor his earnings, but lunch was bad and it just went downhill from there.

Marge had berated him about his parents all through lunch and eventually he was near snapping point. Ripper, the bulldog which Marge took with her everywhere; whom he knew didn't like him was sniffing around his feet, growling. As he finished handing out dessert to the table Marge pinched his ear and pulled him closer to her mouth, whispering in his ear. "You're a useless little ingrate, you know that? Vernon and Pet gave you food and shelter, yet you act like a rotten brat. If it were up to me I would have thrown you back on the street to die like your drunkard parents."

"Leave me alone!"

Harry stomped his foot in the wrong place- Ripper's tail. Ripper went berserk, viciously biting Harry's bony ankle with his strong jaws. Harry did what any 7 year old would have done in that situation.

He freaked out, running out the open double doors, Ripper bolting at full speed after him.

"NO!"

In desperation harry climbed that old oak tree in the backyard, shimmying up high enough that no one would be able to reach him. He hid there for most of the day, unable to get down because of Ripper's unrelenting circling around the tree. The adults were outside the afternoon laughing at his predicament. Eventually, dusk fell and turned into the darkness of night. Harry was tired, hungry and desperately needed to pee. 'If I stay up much longer I'll pee myself.'

He squirmed against a knot in the tree trunk trying not to void his bladder and embarrass himself. 'I have to jump off. Maybe if I run quick enough I can outrun him.'

Part of him rejected the idea but was quickly crushed by a cramp to his overfilled bladder.

Harry jumped off the branch he clung too and bolted to the house; unfortunately his ankle was still sore so he couldn't run as fast. He was knocked over and covered his face with his hands, which were bitten along with his shoulders, arms and his left side. The bites were sharp and frequent and the adults did nothing to stop the bulldog. He wasn't even aware of the wetness in his overlarge trousers or the fact that he had peed himself until Dudley pointed it out. "HEY! Look at the freak! He's gone and pissed himself!"

The Adult's were laughing again but Harry barely noticed as he ran towards the house, his hands grasping the soiled part of his trousers in a poor attempt to hide the evidence. The bites had broken the skin and he would not stop bleeding. That was the only reason he was allowed to bathe, he had to go to a muggle hospital to get the wounds stitched. Otherwise he would have been made to stay in his urine soaked clothes for who knows how long.

Harry shivered at the recollection of the memory. He still had the scars on his shoulder and side. 'It's times like that that make me wish I'd never been born.'

His gaze shifted to the Quidditch pitch. "Well I'm up anyway, I might as well go take a walk."

Grabbing a cloak to counteract the cold weather he quietly snuck out of the room and slipped out of the castle. Strangely enough he didn't meet any teachers or any of the night watch. They were usually around to make sure students didn't leave grounds to do on a date or do something stupid at 3 in the morning. He cautiously made his way to the grounds. Outside the castle the sky was dark and cloudy, a perfect replication of his feelings. The grass was beginning to brown but because of an enchantment all the grass browned evenly, none of that sorry brown and yellow business that usually happened. A low sigh escaped Harry's lips.

He felt a lot better now that he was in the open air, away from the stuffiness of an enclosed space. But where would he go now? He couldn't stick around here in case one of the teacher's found him; then he'd really be in trouble. Especially if it was Snape. 'A walk to the pitch sound's good right about now.'

The stands were only about fifteen minutes away from the school, well within walking distance so he'd be back in time by morning. As he walked the wind blew in gentle circles against his face, it's slight chill nipping at his cheeks. The only sounds around him were the swish of the browning grass as he walked, the sound of his own breath and the whisper of wind through the trees.

The quidditch stands was comprised of many sets of wooden benches all set together at different elevation. They were old, and slivered and if he looked underneath them he would likely find a used wad of 'Droobles Best Bubble Gum' stuck to the bottom or the names of sweethearts engraved in the wood.

This was his favorite place to be, out in the Quidditch pitch. Even in the stone silence harry could see the stands filling up with people, each rooting for their favorite team, making bets on the winners. 'Fred and George for sure. They would bet on themselves.'

His eyes closed as he relaxed deeper into the unforgiving wood, letting the cool breeze and the rustle of grass lull him to sleep, unknowing of the man in the black robe that drifted ever closer to harry. Pale fingers dripped with silver and glinting in speckles along the robe and the thing's mouth shone in the moonlight.

The creature drew closer to Harry, now only a few meters away from him. Slowly raising one ungloved hand, pale like bone compared to his black wrapper; an unholy contrast. The creature was still advancing slowly and Harry released a small moan, wrapping his hand around his scar, The Dark Lords accidental parting gift.

The creature was close now, one bone like hand close enough to brush the bangs from his face when a howl broke through the din of night.

'wha?'

Harry jolted awake from sleep, automatically looking around to see who was there. Harry caught a glimpse of what had been about to touch him and felt an instant revulsion to whomever it was. He opened his mouth to cast a charm, wand already in his hand, but the figure had vanished into the night. Instead harry almost fell over gasping, he had never been so frightened before.

'what in merlin was that!?'

"Lumos Maxima!"

With the bright light guiding his vision he had found out what had howled, waking him up from his nightmare about green light and high laughter. A massive boarhound sat there in front of the stands. It was mostly black but had a silver sheen on its coat. Harry looked at it curiously. He was usually terrified of dogs and wouldn't usually go 20 feet near one but this one didn't seem so scary. 'Maybe it's because it's face is so flabby.'

The dogs face looked like it was a bunch of wrinkles and lines mixed in with flaps of skin. It looked more likely to slobber all over him rather than actually bite him. Harry smirked 'Although, if it wanted to hurt me all it would have to do is sit on me.'

"rrrroo….rowr."

The dog let loose a high pitched whine.

'I wonder if the dog will let me leave?'

The dog let out another long whine, stretching over twenty seconds.

'It doesn't seem angry… Maybe it wants me to pet it?"

Slowly Harry rose from the stand, holding his hands in the air to show he was no threat like he had read in a muggle magazine and slowly began to walk down the steps of the stands toward the dog.

The dog let out a large huff and walked up the stairs to where Harry was laying his great head on Harrys hand and letting out an even greater whimper. Slowly with his other hand he began petting the boarhound, scratching behind the ears and getting onto one knee to steady himself better. The dog removed its head from Harry's hand to his knee leaving harry with both hands able to stroke and scratch the dog whose eyes were closing in pleasure and drooling on his robes. Scratching at its neck he discovered a small band of leather hidden by folds of silvery black skin.

'A collar…'

"Do you belong to somebody…Fang?"

"That's what it says on your collar anyways…"

Fang did not respond other than to drool on his robes. "Well I can't stay fang, but if you come with me later we might be able to find your owner."

"Rowf"

Fang rubbed his head on Harry's robes then trotted off, silvery coat melding in with the inky darkness once more. 'Well, I suppose I should head back to the tower now.'

Turning towards the glowing lights of Hogwarts castle Harry started the short trek back to the common room, mindful of the drool on his robes.

"So you think you can get away with insulting me like this, Potter!"

Draco, goyle and crabbe had pushed Harry into a stone statue in the castle courtyard, the rough stone scratching his skin through his thin robes. During defence Harry had a beginners duel with Malfoy and won. Halfway to lunch Harry had realised that he had left his defence against the dark arts book in Quirrell's classroom and had told Hermionie and Ron to continue on without him.

On the way to the great hall he had decided to cut through the courtyard, although he was stopped when two hands yanked his robes and pushed him into one of the statue. His discomfort was short lived, to be replaced by a vicious pain in his stomach. He would have bent over in pain had his arms and shoulders not been held by Crabbe and Goyle.

Draco Malfoy stood in front of him, face blurred by the unshed tears in his eyes although the smirk on his face was clearly visible. The blurred figure moved, as if drawing back his fist for another blow. 'Crap.'

He braced himself for another impact when a loud bark pierced his eardrums. He froze in terror, limbs stiffening out of reflex. 'Could it be?'

He prayed it was. The hands holding him against the statue dropped, leaving harry to slide onto the ground. Harry slowly opened his eyes to the sight of the three boys running in terror, Malfoy almost falling over his robes in his haste to escape. The sound of earth moving drew his gaze to his rescuer. 'Fang…'

He was just able to make out his rescuer. The glint of silver against fur as dark as obsidian blending in with the darkness overcoming his vision, lungs struggling to pull in oxygen and the tightness in his chest made it even harder to breathe.

A cold touch against his hand, then the shadow of a dog flying out of his view. "Wait…"

'Fang… Where are you going…'

The darkness overcame his vision and the tightness eased out of his chest to become part of the inky blackness overtaking his sight. Harry potter's breath eased and his shoulders slumped towards the ground unconscious.

Harry opened his eyes, sight blurring until he fumbled with the side table and put his glasses on. He was in a white, pristine room with beds all around him and large windows letting in the gentle breeze. Only one thing marred the almost pure white of the room.

The warm weight of a black shadow on his bed.

The breath caught in his chest. The movement caused the black shadow to move, drawing its head up to look Harry with droopy, almost sad eyes. Feeling none of the fear he had before he wrapped his arms around Fang, fingers digging into the folds of skin around his neck. "Thank you fang!"

A cough drew him back from Fangs warmth.

The headmaster stood there in all his white bearded, purple robed, silver starred glory.

"H-Headmaster! What brings you here?"

The headmasters eyes twinkled, making Harry wonder if the headmaster had eaten a container of glitter lately or on a sugar high from eating one too many lemon drops. "Well I was in the area and decided to pay you a visit."

As Dumbledore made his way to the chair beside the bed fang once again rose his head to stare down the headmaster. Dumbledore froze, waiting until Fang had laid down his head again to sit in the chair.

Harry, who had watched the confrontation was curious. "Sir, may I ask you a question?"

"Of course my boy."

"Do you know who's dog this is?"

Dumbledore looked thoughtful for a moment. "Well he doesn't belong to anybody. He prefers to stay with Hagrid, although it seems he's taken you in."

"Taken me in, sir?"

The curiosity in Harry's eyes made the headmaster chuckle. "Fang is a very powerful magical creature. Depending on the situation he can control peoples minds to change how they perceive things to protect his familiar. Fang has stayed with Hagrid for over 20 years, waiting for his familiar to come and it would seem he found it in you."

Harry was shocked to say the least. He looked down at the dog whose head lay on his knee, drooling on his blankets. 'So Fang's my familiar? And he changed how people saw him to protect me?'

"But why sir? Why would he choose me?"

Dumbledore smiled. "It would seem that and sees something in himself within you. He belongs to you now."

"Wouldn't he be happier with Hagrid? I mean I don't want to take Fang away from him."

"Oh I don't know about that. I'm sure Hagrid will, shall we say… stick around."

The headmaster stood to his feet. "Well I imagine I must be off. The are a few students I must teach the importance of politeness to."

There was a cool tone to his voice which made harry shiver. He didn't want to be up there when to headmaster returned to talk to the Slytherins. "I hope you and your familiar get along well. Until we meet again my boy."

The headmaster strode through the doors of the hospital wing.

Harry looked at Fang. "Ron always said the headmaster was brilliant. Crazy, but brilliant."

A high wimper was the reply. Harry laughed, wrapping his arms around Fang.

"Thanks Fang"

THE END (OR IS IT…?) Sequel coming soon!

Well this was my story for the unheard of pairing contest by uni shall not sink,

I hope you enjoyed reading this. This is my first time in potterverse so let me know if you like it, if I should continue writing, if I should send my laptop to computer he! and begin my life as a hermit.


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